Rotary longitudinal kiln apparatus

ABSTRACT

The specification discloses an improved mercury-extraction, oretreatment, apparatus comprising an inclined longitudinal rotary kiln having a rotating longitudinal inner ore-flow tube means through which mercury ore is fed and passes spirally downwardly from the upper inlet end thereof to the lower discharge end thereof while being exteriorly subjected to hot flue gases in an outer insulated furnace extension tubular portion (nonrotating) surrounding said inner rotating ore-flow tube means and thus causing mercury in the mercury ore to be released in the form of vapor which is then extracted from within said ore-flow tube means by suction applied to longitudinal mercury vapor extraction tube means extending into said rotating ore-flow tube means from the lower end thereof and then passing through condenser means for condensing the extracted mercury vapor. The inner rotating ore-flow tube means is provided therealong with a plurality of mercury vapor and ore separating and isolating means which freely allow passage of the ore therethrough, but which virtually prevent the passage of vapor therethrough. One form of the oreflow tube means includes novel expansion joint means compensating for thermal expansion and slight misalignment of ore-flow tube means sections along the length thereof and also provides thermal expansion and seal means between adjacent tubular furnace extensions portions and supporting wheel means passing therethrough and bearing the weight of the rotating ore-flow tube means at longitudinally spaced locations.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Jack G. Fisher Primary Examiner-J.Spencer Overholser 11032 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood, AssistantExaminer-R. Spencer Annear Calif.9160l [2]] Appl. No. 738,492 [22] FiledJune 20, 1968 ABSTRACT: The specification discloses an improved [45]Patented Apr. 20,1971 mercury-extraction, ore-treatment, apparatuscomprising an Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. inclinedlongitudinal rotary kiln having a rotating longitudinal 465,474, June21, 1965, now abandoned. inner ore-flow tube means through which mercuryore is fedand passes spirally downwardly from the upper inlet endthereof to the lower discharge end thereof while being exteriorlysubjected to hot flue gases in an outer insulated furnace extensiontubular portion (nonrotating) surrounding 6 said inner rotating ore-flowtube means and thus causing [54] ROTARY LONGITUDINALKILN APPARATUSmercury in the mercury ore to be released in the form of vapor 17Claims, 13 Drawing Figs. which is then extracted from within saidore-flow tube means 52 use! 266/18, by Swim aPPlied mgnudinal mmuryextract 266/ tube means extending into said rotating ore-flow tube means[51 Int. Cl C22b 5/16 mm the end and Passing through Field of Search266/16, 18, widens" mam mndensmg extractedmerww valPm- 263 /3 /25 81 83The inner rotating ore-flow tube means is provided therealong with aplurality of mercury vapor and ore separating and [56] R f ren Citedisolating means which freely allow passage of the ore UNITED STATESPATENTS therethrough, but which virtually prevent the passage of vapor475 060 5/1892 Kohler 263/34 therethrough. One form of the ore-flow tubemeans includes 1 314849 9/1919 Bassett 263/34 novel expansion oint meanscompensating for thermal 2l58689 5/1939 g 266/18 expansion and slightmisalignment of ore-flow tube means 5/1944 D 266/18X sections along thelength thereof and also provides thermal egner expansion and seal meansbetween adjacent tubular furnace FOREIGN PATENTS extensions portions andsupporting wheel means passing 565,737 12/1932 Germany... 266/18therethrough and bearing the weight of the rotating ore-flow 225,77912/1924 Great Britain 263/34 tube means at longitudinally spacedlocations.

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This application comprises a continuation-in-part of my copending patentapplication, Ser. No. 465,474, filed on June 2l, 1965, whichsubstantially issued on ,luly 9, 1968, as US. Pat. No. 3,39l,9l6.

ln a broad sense, it may be said that the present invention relates tothe mining field and, more particularly, to the treatment ofmercury-containing ore, such as cinnabar or mercuric sulfide ore, or thelike, for the purpose of extracting mercury therefrom. The apparatus ofthe present invention comprises a very simple apparatus for treatingsuch ore for the extraction of mercury at very low cost per unit of orehandled, or per unit of mercury extracted therefrom, and whicheliminates and overcomes most of the major prior art problems which haveexisted in the past in the extraction of mercury from such ore and whichhave effectively increased the prior art cost per unit of mercury forsuch prior art extraction of mercury from ore of the type referred toabove.

llt should be noted that cinnabar, or mercuric sulfide ore, iscustomarily, according to prior art practice, treated in any of severaldifferent ways. In certain cases, it may be crushed, if necessary, andit may be gravity-concentrated by various conventionalgravity-concentration methods well known in the art since such cinnabarore has a relatively high specific gravity, as compared to theconventional or usual gangue material.

The mercury in the concentrate may then be extracted by froth flotationfollowed by retorting the flotation concentrate or otherwise removingthe mercury therefrom, or in other cases the ore may be directly roastedin a rotary kiln, orthe like, for the effective disassociation of theore into mercury and sulfur and for the effective vaporization of themercury and subsequent condensation thereof. This vaporization andcondensation separation and recovery method is based upon the fact thatthe mercury and sulfur ore in cinnabar ore usually become disassociatedwhen its temperature is raised to a magnitude of between 500 to 600 C.,at which temperature the disassociated mercury turns to a vapor atordinary atmospheric pressure.

The above-mentioned roasting or retorting procedure, which producesdisassociation of the ore and vaporization of the mercury, followed bysubsequent condensation thereof, is only suitable for ore which does notcontain any very fine dust or very small particle sizes since theconventional prior art rotary kiln passes the entire volume of hot fluegases over, through, and in intimate contact with the ore and at verysubstantial velocities such that any ore in the form of dust orrelatively small particle sizes will be picked up by reason of thevelocity of the hot flue gases and carried completely through the kilnto the outlet end thereof. This normally requires use of means forrecovering said dust which may then be concentrated by flotation, or thelike, or otherwise accumulated in the form of a mud which must then befurther treated for the recovery of the substantial amount of mercurycontained therein. This further recovery treatment may involve a furtherretorting and/or additional processing, all of which adds to the cost ofthe processing per unit of mercury finally recovered or per unit of orehandled.

Even in those cases where the ore does not contain any such dust or fineparticle sizes, but is of a substantial particle size and thus issupposedly, according to conventional prior art practice, ideally suitedfor the above-mentioned type of prior art treatment by roasting same ina rotary kiln which vaporizes the mercury, which is subsequentlycondensed, it will be noted that a major disadvantage still exists inthat all of the hot flue gases will normally have to be passed throughthe condenser since said flue gas has been in direct intimate contactwith the ore in the kiln during the heating of the ore. This necessarilyincreases the required size and capacity of the condenser means andfurther complicates matters since it will be found that a considerableamount of other materials will also be condensed with, or washed out of,the considerable volume of the hot flue gases, thus necessitatingfurther treatment thereof in order to extract the mercury therefrom, allof which adds to the cost of the overall processing per unit of mercuryextracted or per unit of ore handled.

The novel apparatus of the present invention virtually completelyeliminates and overcomes the above-mentioned prior art disadvantagessince the hot flue gases do not ever come into direct contact with theore during the heating therefrom by said hot flue gases and, therefore,no contamination of the hot flue gases can possibly occur in theabove-mentioned undesirable prior art manner. Furthermore, it makeslittle or no difference whether the ore contains fine dust or fineparticle sizes since the substantial velocity of the hot flue gasescannot pick same up in the above-mentioned highly undesirable prior artmanner by reason of the complete isolation of the ore, which is movingdownwardly angularly in one direction from the hot flue gases which aremoving upwardly angularly in the opposite direction.

Thus no dust recovery problem is encountered and, therefore, notreatment of the flue gases for the purpose of recovering any such dustand any mercury which might be contained therein is required by thenovel apparatus of the present invention. lndeed, the complete volume ofhot flue gases may be directly exhausted to atmosphere without anytreatment of any kind and certainly without the necessity, in theabove-mentioned undesirable prior art manner, of said complete volume ofhot flue gases being fed through a condenser, washing unit, or otherdust and mercury extraction and recovery means. The above-mentionedmajor advantage of the present invention greatly reduces the requiredsize and capacity of the condenser means, and the reduced amount ofhandling of the hot flue gases and treatment of any concentrateseparated therefrom, in the manner required in accordance withconventional prior art practice, as referred to above, greatly reducesthe overall cost of processing mercury ore with the apparatus of thepresent invention. This, of course, and as a consequence thereof,greatly reduces the cost of the ore processing and mercury extractionper unit of the mercury extracted or per unit of the ore handled andadditionally reduces the capital investment required for the equipmentcorrespondingly.

The above advantages are achieved largely by reasonof the completeisolation of the ore and the hot furnace flue gases, although they arein a very effective form of heat transfer relationship which minimizesthe amount of fuel required by the furnace and, therefore,correspondingly reduces the cost of the ore processing. This is broughtabout by reason of the contraflow or counterflow arrangement of theapparatus of the present invention with respect to the feeding of theore angularly downwardly and the feeding of the hot furnace flue gasesupwardly angularly with respect to each other while in heat transferrelationship. It will be noted that as one proceeds angularly upwardlyalong the flowing hot furnace flue gases, they will become progressivelycolder or less hot while, similarly, the downwardly angularly feedingore will also become progressively colder at any given position withrespect to the corresponding hot flue gases in heat transferrelationship with respect thereto. This causes the temperaturediflerential which exists at any given location along the heat transferregion of the hot flue gases and the ore to maintain a much more nearlyconsistent value than would otherwise be the case if they were both fedin the same direction, which would produce a maximum temperaturedifferential at the beginning of the heat transfer zone and a minimumtemperature differential of very much less magnitude at the end of theheat transfer zone.

The novel contraflow or counterflow arrangement of the presentinvention, by reason of said characteristic of tending to maintain thetemperature differential between the hot flue gases and the ore alongthe length of the heat transfer zone, produces the most effectivetransfer of heat from the hot flue gases to the ore and, therefore, bymerely adjusting the overall length of said heat transfer zone,virtually any desired amount of the total available heat in said hotflue gases may be extracted prior to exhausting same to ambientatmosphere through an exhaust flue. This of course maximizes the thermalefliciency of the apparatus of the present invention and reduces thefuel costs for operating same.

In addition to the above contraflow or counterflow arrangement whichproduces maximum thermal efliciency in the novel apparatus of thepresent invention, its abovedetailed major advantages also stem from theprovision of a novel mercury vapor extraction means or system which isin interior communication with the heated ore at the lower end of theheat transfer zone (where said ore has achieved its maximum temperaturesufficient to disassociate the ore and vaporize the disassociatedmercury thereof) and which is not in communication with the hot furnaceflue gases at all. This, of course, means that said vapor extractionsystem or means has to handle only a relatively small volume of mercuryvapor accompanied by a small amount of air and need not handle thevastly greater volume of hot furnace flue gases, as is frequently thecase in conventional prior an apparatus. This is a major advantage sinceit reduces the size and, consequently, the cost of not only the pumpingmeans employed for moving the mercury vapor as opposed to the completevolume of hot furnace flue gases, but also correspondingly reduces therequired size and cost of the condenser means. it should be noted thatthe mercury vapor extraction means or system referred to above, in abroader sense, may be said to comprise material (usually gas or vapor)pumping and handling means capable of both pumping out mercury vapor orthe like and also capable of acting as an injector, either at certainspecific times or continuously during actual operation of the rotarykiln so that appropriate material of any suitable type may be injectedinto any of the longitudinally adjacent ore and vapor chambers definedwithin the ore-flow tube means for the purpose of facilitating thereaction, or mercury vapor extraction operation, occurring therein. Thisis particularly true with respect to the lowermost and hottest of thelongitudinally adjacent ore and vapor chambers defined within the hollowinterior of the ore-flow tube means into which it is desirable tointroduce a certain amount of air or other oxygen-supplying material sothat sulfur disassociated from cinnabar ore in this lowermost, hottestore and vapor chamber will not recombine with the mercury vaporsimultaneously disassociated from the cinnabar ore, but will becomeoxidized by the introduced oxygen and thus will form either sulfurdioxide or sulfur trioxide which will be exhausted to atmosphere andwill not recombine with the freed mercury vapor.

Thus, it may be said that the mercury vapor extraction means is capableof both pumping outwardly and inwardly. The outward pumping is of coursefor extracting the mercury vapor from the kiln and feeding it to thecondenser, while the inward pumping action is for the purpose ofintroducing air or other reaction-aiding material into any desired oneof the ore and vapor chambers. This may be accomplished in any of anumber of difl'erent ways. For example, at certain stated times, thepump associated with the mercury vapor extraction means may beeffectively reversed or an auxiliary pump may be placed in operation topump air into any desired one of the ore and vapor chambers, after whichthis inward air injecting operation may cease and subsequently theconventional mercury vapor extracting outward pumping operation may beperformed. The introduction of air may be arranged to occur periodicallyin substantially the right amounts to facilitate the operation justdescribed.

Alternatively, the extraction-injection tube means associated with themercury vapor extraction means may be compartmented so as to have twodifferent duct portions therein, one of which is normally operated in anoutward pumping mercury vapor extraction manner and the other of whichmay be operated in an inward pumping air injecting manner. Theseoperations may occur at difierent times or may occur simultaneously, andthe outlet for the injected air may be spaced from the inlet for themercury vapor so that there will be no direct, very closely adjacentcommunication between the inwardly pumping injected air and theoutwardly sucking portion of the tube or duct, which would tend toimmediately withdraw the air before it had had a chance to react withthe disassociated sulfur Various other means for achieving this sameeffect may be employed within the broad scope of the present invention.

Also, it should be noted that the normally concentrically positionedtube comprising a part of the mercury vapor extraction means or system,which extends from a position exterior of one end (usually the lowerend) of the ore-flow tube means into the interior of one or more of theinner ore and vapor chambers defined within the ore-flow tube means, maybe arranged to be nonrotatively fixed along the axis of the ore-flowtube means while it rotates axially therearound and may be appropriatelyprovided with bearings at points where it passes through the end of theore-flow tube means and any of the hereinafter-referred-to vapor and oreseparating and isolating means positioned therewithin, or, conversely,the tube of the mercury vapor extraction means (which also is intendedto be interpreted broadly enough to include the air injector tube inkeeping with the above disclosure thereof) may be fixedly mounted(usually concentrically and axially) relative to the ore-flow tube meansso as to rotate therewith, in which case it may have an exteriorrotative bearing and fluid transmitting coupling positioned between itspoint of exit from the end of the main ore-flow tube means and itsconnection to the pumping means of the mercury vapor extraction means.Either such an arrangement of any other substantially functionallyequivalent arrangement is intended to be included and comprehendedwithin the broad scope of the present invention.

The above briefly details certain of the major advantages of theimproved apparatus of the present invention with respect to the handlingof mercury-containing ore and the efficient extraction of mercurytherefrom. However, the advantages of the present invention are notlimited to those detailed above but also lie in certain importantstructural features, such as the novel mounting means (including supportmeans) of the present invention which rollably support a longitudinaloreflow tube through which the ore is angularly downwardly fed as it isrotated and in which it is heated by the surrounding hot furnace fluegases. Said novel mounting means mount and support said rotatingore-flow tube at all necessary and required locations. Usually thesecomprise the opposite ends thereof, at one of which driving means forrotating said oreflow tube is nonnally provided, and also at one or moreintermediate locations along the length of said ore-flow tube. Theselatter intermediate mounting means are extremely important since it willbe understood that the entire ore-flow tube and, in particular, portionsnear to the furnace means becomes quite hot during the operation of theapparatus, which has the effect of weakening the metallic material ofwhich it is made, (usually high-strength steel, although notspecifically so limited), and if it were unsupported between the endsthereof, intermediate heated portions of said relatively lengthyore-flow tube would tend to sag and become misaligned with respect tothe rest of the apparatus, which would probably lead to seriousoperational difficulties and complete failure of the apparatus.

However, the present invention provides the novel mounting meansreferred to above, which are capable of rotatably supporting saidlongitudinal ore-flow tube at any number of desired locations along thelength thereof, while in no way interfering with its positioning insideof an outer furnace portion so that the hot furnace flue gas may flowaround said ore-flow tube in heat transfer relationship with respectthereto. Thus the novel mounting means of the present inventioncomprises another major advantage of the invention which, incidentally,may be independently usable in arrangements other than mercuryextraction apparatus of the specific type described in detailhereinafter and, indeed, may be generally usable in rotary kilns or invarious other apparatus having similar intermediate mounting and/orsupporting problems, and this feature of the present invention isintended to be covered in all such apparatuses and or usages.

The above-mentioned longitudinal ore-flow tube means may be providedwith air inflow means adapted to supply a predetermined amount of air tothe interior thereof, or it may be of a controllably adjustable natureadapted to be adjusted so as to supply any required amount of air to theinterior thereof, primarily for the purpose of effectively oxidizing thesulfur released as a result of the heat-caused disassociation of themercuric sulfide ore produced by the heat of the furnace means so thatit will not recombine with the vaporized mercury.

A particular advantage of the present invention over prior art apparatusand even over my hereinbefore-identified copending patent applicationdirected to generally similar apparatus, is the provision in theimproved apparatus of the present invention of vapor and ore separatingand isolating means within the longitudinal ore-flow tube means of thepresent invention through which the ore passes as it is being heated forthe purpose of vaporizing mercury in one preferred form of the inventionand acting to effectively divide or separate the interior of thelongitudinal ore-flow tube means into two or more and, in one preferredform of the invention, three, hollow interior longitudinally adjacentore and vapor chambers. Each of said vapor and ore separating andisolating means is readily adapted to transmit crushed ore therethroughfrom one interior ore and vapor chamber to the next downwardly adjacentore and vapor chamber of the longitudinal ore-flow tube means, but iseffective to greatly inhibit and substantially prevent any major amountof flow of vapor from one interior ore and vapor chamber to the nextdownwardly or upwardly adjacent ore and vapor chamber.

Thus, it will be understood that, as the mercury-containing ore passesdownwardly angularly from a first or upper ore and vapor chamber withinthe longitudinal ore-flow tube means into the next downwardly angularlyadjacent ore and vapor chamber of the ore-flow tube means by beingreadily transmitted through a first or upper vapor and ore separatingand isolating means, the vapor which is contained in said first or upperore and vapor chamber is largely prevented from similarly passingthrough said vapor and ore separating and isolating means into said nextangularly downwardly adjacent ore and vapor chamber along with the ore,and the major portion of the vapor remains in said first or upper oreand vapor chamber so that it may be said that the ore and the vaporemitted therefrom in response to the heating of the ore by the hotfurnace flue gases passing around the exterior of the right upper endportion of the ore-flow tube means in an exterior annular hot furnaceflue gas passage defined between the exterior of said longitudinalore-flow tube means and the interior of an upwardly angularly inclinedprojecting ore-treatment furnace extension portion are effectivelyseparated by said first vapor and ore separating and isolating means.

In said first ore and vapor chamber, the separated vapor is usuallylargely moisture vaporized out of the ore in said initial ore heatingzone within said first ore and vapor chamber, and the inflow end of theore-flow tube means is preferably open and vented to atmosphere to allowsaid vaporized moisture to escape.

The initially heated ore, after passing through the first vapor and oreseparating and isolating means into the second ore and vapor chamberwithin a middle portion of the longitudinal ore-flow tube means, is nowheated by the hot furnace flue gases in said exterior longitudinal hotfurnace flue gas passage to an even greater temperature, perhaps of theorder of 700 although the invention is not specifically so limited. Thisvaporizes the free mercury in the ore, which will then be containedwithin the second or middle ore and vapor chamber, and the mercury vaporso produced will not to any substantial degree pass through the secondor next downstream positioned vapor and ore separating and isolatingmeans into the first ore and vapor chamber. Instead, the vaporized freemercury in the second or middle ore and vapor chamber is then drawncompletely out of the apparatus by mercury vapor extraction tube meanspositioned in effective interior and usually substantially concentriccommunication with the interior of said second or middle ore and vaporchamber, usually by passing centrally through the second vapor and oreseparating and isolating means from the interior thereof and thendownstream through the center of the third ore and vapor chamber, thedownstream positioned furnace, and the third vapor and ore separatingand isolating means to a position exterior of the apparatus wheresuction is applied to said mercury vapor extraction tube means foreffecting the extraction of the free mercury vapor from the second ormiddle ore and vapor chamber in the manner just described, after whichit may be-fed through suitable condenser means and condensed back intoliquid mercury. lt will be noted that this prevents the mercury vaporproduced from the free mercury contained in the ore and vaporized by theexteriorly applied heat in said second or middle ore and vapor chamberfrom coming into contact with the much hotter ore, which is heatedperhaps to a temperature of approximately 1 although not specifically solimited, in the third and next downstream positioned ore and vaporchamber, which would be undesirable because the mercury vapor from thefree mercury produced in said middle ore and vapor chamber would, ifallowed to come into contact with the ore in the third or lowermost oreand vapor chamber at a higher temperature of approximately llO0, becomeoxidized and form various undesirable compounds and drop into the oreand be lost in the waste. This is extremely undesirable since itrepresents an attenuation or loss of the mercury vapor which has alreadybeen extracted from the mercury-containing ore as a result ofvaporization of substantially all of the free mercury in said ore in thesecond or middle ore and vapor chamber.

The second vapor and ore separating and isolating means positionedbetween the second or middle and the third or lowermost ore and vaporchambers within the longitudinal ore-flow tube means allows the orewhich has been heated to approximately 700 to pass therethrough intosaid third or lowermost ore and vapor chamber where it is heated to amuch higher temperature, perhaps to the order of approximately 1l00 asmentioned hereinbefore, which temperature is adapted to cause chemicaldisassociation of mercury and other elements which have been present inthe ore up to that point in the form of mercury-containing compounds,such as cinnabar or various other mercurycontaining compounds. In otherwords, the temperature in the third ore and vapor chamber in thelowermost portion of the ore-flow tube means and in the portion thereofwhich actually passes directly through the main heating portion of thefurnace itself, is sufficient to disassociate chemically lockedup formsof mercury and to then vaporize the released mercury within said thirdor lowermost ore and vapor chamber. This mercury vapor, and any othervapors produced as a result of the heat applied to the ore, may then bewithdrawn from said third or lowermost ore and vapor chamber separatelyfrom the ore itself by passing through a third or lowermost vapor andore separating and isolating means. This is accomplished by employingmercury vapor extraction tube means and suction means similar to thatreferred to above with respect to the withdrawal of mercury vapor fromthe second or middle ore and vapor chamber produced by vaporization insaid chamber of mercury originally contained in the ore in the form offree mercury.

The withdrawal of the mercury vapor from the third or lowermost ore andvapor chamber by such mercury vapor extraction tube means and suctionmeans may be done independently of the withdrawal of the mercury vaporfrom the second or middle ore and vapor chamber as previously referredto, and may be only recombined therewith after condensation andliquefication of the mercury, or a common mercury vapor extraction tubemeans and suction means may be employed and separate inlets theretocommunicating with said common mercury vapor extraction tube means ineach of said second and third ore and vapor chambers may be provided.

In either of the arrangements referred to above, it should be noted thatthe mercury vapor extraction and subsequent condensation is effectivelyoptimized by reason of the provision of the plurality of vapor and oreseparating and isolating means and greatly improves the extractionefficiency of the whole apparatus.

It should also be noted that, if desired, the mercury vapor withdrawnfrom either the middle ore and vapor chamber or the lower ore and vaporchamber, or both, may be fed through suitable auxiliary equipment forsuitable additional treatment if needed before condensation and, ifdesired, in certain forms of the invention, may even be fed back intothe apparatus at any point for treatment, retreatment, or recirculationif such is thought desirable. However, the above-described method ofoperating the improved form of the apparatus of the present L inventionprovides a highly advantageous and superior mercury-extractionore-treatment process having an extremely high level of extractionefficiency without the necessity of further treatment of the extractedmercury vapor or recycling or retreatment thereof.

Also, it should be noted that the improved form of the invention hasanother major advantage over the prior art and the apparatus disclosedin my hereinbefore-identified copending patent application in that meansare provided for fully compensating for the efi'ects of thermalexpansion and contraction without loss of strength or loss of seal, andthis makes it possible to construct the improved apparatus of thepresent invention in virtually any size and, particularly, in virtuallyany length desired without loss of efficiency, and without structuraland/or sealing problems. This is accomplished in one preferred form ofthe invention by reason of the fact that the ore-flow tube meanscomprises a plurality of (usually three, in one preferred form of theinvention) longitudinal ore-flow tube means portions having end parts ofdifferent and interfitting diameters so as to be in telescopicallyoverlapped and effectively interiorly communicating end-toend engagementin a telescopically relatively extenriable and retractable mannerwhereby to allow for thermal expansion of adjacent ore-flow tube meansportions by allowing the engaged end parts thereof to movelongitudinally, thus providing what might be termed expansion jointmeans along the length of the longitudinal ore-flow tube means. Sincethe ore-flow tube means is power-rotated by driving motor means (usuallyat one end thereof and, in the example illustrated and described forexemplary purposes, at the upper end thereof, although not specificallyso limited), it will be noted that the middle and lower ore-flow tubemeans portions would not be rotated along with the upper ore-flow tubemeans portion unless independent power rotation driving means arecoupled thereto, or unless the telescopically overlapped and engagedlongitudinal oreflow tube means portions end parts are effectivelynonrotatively keyed or splined with respect to each other so that theyare free for longitudinal, telescopic, relative movement but rotatetogether. Both arrangements are intended to be included and comprehendedwithin the broad scope of the present invention. It should be clearlynoted that each telescopically overlapped and effectively interiorlycommunicating end-to-end engagement of adjacent ends of the differentportions of the ore-flow tube means which forms the above-mentionedexpansion joint means is effectively so connected as to be of a typeadapted to allow effective pivotal movement to a limited extent in adirection transverse to the longitudinal axis of said tube means. Thisis true of forms of the invention where the expansion joints are noteffectively keyed or splined together, and each is simultaneously orsynchronously driven by driving motor means and is equally as true ofanother form of the invention wherein each such expansion joint means iseffectively rotatively keyed or splined, thus allowing all of the tubeportions to be simultaneously driven by a single driving means connectedto only one of the three portions in a driving manner. In other words, alimited degree of effective bending of the ore-flow tube means and alsoof relative extension and retraction is permitted by the novelconstruction of the expansion joint means or junction means, which thusfully allows for thermal expansion, contraction, deformation, anddeflection without causing physical displacement of supported portionsof the ore-flow tube means in a manner such as to produce excessivelocalized stresses or loading or other thermally caused structuralproblems.

The highly advantageous temperature compensation means improvement ofthe present invention referred to above also includes means for allowingfor thermal expansion and contraction of the longitudinal ore-flow tubemeans with respect to the transverse movement which will be impartedtherefrom to the interrnediately positioned, circumferentially enlargedstress-transferring wheel means which effectively engage intermediateportions of the periphery of the longitudinal ore-flow tube means atlongitudinally spaced, intermediate locations and which passes throughsimilarly positioned annular spaces in the exterior furnace extensioninto positions where said enlarged stress-transferring wheel means arepositively supported on roller means carried at the upper end ofunderlying structural support means. It will be understood that as thelongitudinal ore-flow tube means expands or contracts, this willobviously correspondingly longitudinally move at least certain of theintermediate stresstransferring wheel means fastened thereto, and thepresent invention provides an arrangement wherein the annular recess inthe extended ore-treatment furnace portion through which such anintermediate enlarged stress-transferring wheel means passes is longerthan the received portion of said wheel means whereby to effectivelycomprise and define expansion joint space means between opposite sidesof said wheel means and adjacent parts of the extended ore-treatmentfurnace means portion on each side of each such annular recess wherebyto allow the wheel means positioned therein and carried by thecorresponding portion of the ore-flow tube means to move substantiallyin response to thermal expansion and/or contraction of said ore-flowtube means. The underlying roller means provides a sufficiently broadengagement surface and no longitudinal-movement-inhibiting-or-preventingmeans so as to allow the corresponding intermediate enlargedstresstransferring wheel means to longitudinally move in the manner justdescribed as a result of thermal expansion and/or contraction of theore-flow tube means carrying said intermediate stress-transferring wheelmeans.

In a preferred form, the stress-transferring wheel means at oppositeends of the longitudinal ore-flow tube means (and, in one preferredform, at the lower end of a separate middle portion thereof) may beengaged by underlying roller means which are provided withlongitudinal-movement-immobilizing or thrust-preventing means, thusacting to maintain said ends of the longitudinal ore-flow tube means inpredetermined locations irrespective of thermal expansion or contractionof other intermediate portions of the longitudinal ore-flow tube means.This is made possible by the previously mentioned separation of thelongitudinal ore-flow tube means into the severally longitudinallytelescopically engaged portions, and the thermally caused movement ofsaid intermediate portions of the longitudinal ore-flow tube means andthe corresponding intermediate stress-transferring wheel means is fullyprovided for and allowed by the thermal expansion joint space meansreferred to above and the engagement of the intermediate supportingrollers and the intermediate stress-transferring wheel means in themanner referred to above, which allows such thermally causedlongitudinal relative movement thereof.

Thus, all of the mechanical problems resulting from thermal expansionand contraction are fully solved in the improved apparatus of thepresent invention by reason of the provision of the structuralarrangements referred to above and,

additionally, any sealing problems which might result from such thermalexpansion and contraction are also solved by the provision oflongitudinally extendable and retractable heatresistant seal meanseffectively extending across open portions of each such annular recessof the type referred to above between adjacent extended ore-treatmentfurnace means portion and the corresponding enlarged stress'transferringwheel means passing outwardly therethrough in a manner such as toeffectively seal and prevent the escape of hot furnace flue gas fromsaid interior hot furnace flue gas passage through said expansion jointspace means and yet to freely allow the above-mentioned thermally causedlongitudinal movement of intermediate stress-transferring wheel means.

With the above points in mind, it is an object of the present inventionto provide a novel mercury extraction ore treatment apparatus and/ormethod of the character referred to herein, having the advantagesreferred to herein, generically and/or specifically, and individually orin combination, and which is of relatively simple, inexpensive, readilyassemblable and disassemblable (and, therefore, readily movable)construction adapted for ready mass manufacture at relatively low costand which is characterized by extremely low cost per unit of ore handledand/or per unit of mercury extracted therefrom, whereby to be conduciveto widespread use thereof and to the mining and processing ofmercury-containing ores otherwise considered to be marginal orsubmarginal and, therefore, conventionally considered to be economicallyunworkable.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novelmercury-extraction ore-treatment apparatus of the character referred toherein, wherein the mercury-containing ore is passed along a substantialheat transfer zone in highly effective contraflow or counterflow heattransfer relationship with respect to, but completely physicallyisolated from, hot furnace flue gases, whereby to produce an optimumroasting of the ore and consequent disassociation thereof whereby torelease mercury therefrom and vaporize same in a highly efficient andlow-cost manner.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide novelapparatus of the character referred to in the preceding object,including novel mercury vapor extraction means for directly extractingsaid mercury vapor produced from the mercury disassociated from the oreby said heat and without in any manner requiring the handling, by saidextraction means, of the hot flue gases.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide apparatus ofthe character referred to in the second preceding object, including thenovel mounting means (including support means) capable of beingpositioned in supporting relationship at any desired locations along thelength of an ore-flow tube means adapted to be heated by surroundingencompassing hot furnace flue gases, without in any way interfering witha furnace extension portion confining said hot flue gases to flow alongand around said longitudinal ore-flow tube means.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide apparatus ofthe character referred to herein having the ,novel vapor and oreseparating and isolating feature referred to hereinbefore to allow thevapor in any of a plurality of compartments within the ore-flow tubemeans and defined by the vapor and ore separating and isolating means tobe extracted and removed from the ore-flow tube means rather than beingpassed along with the ore into the next succeeding ore and vapor chamberwithin the ore-flow tube means.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide apparatus ofthe character referred to herein having the novel thermal expansion andcontraction compensation feature referred to hereinbefore which allowsfor and compensates for thermal expansion of the heated ore-flow tubemeans and associated parts of the apparatus in a manner which causes noloss of structural strength and no loss of seal and thus allows theapparatus to be economically manufactured in virtually any size orlength desired.

Further objects are implicit in the detailed description which followshereinafter (which is to be considered as exemplary of, but notspecifically limiting, the present invention), and said objects will beapparent to persons skilled in the art after a careful study of thedetailed description which follows hereinafter.

For the purpose of clarifying the nature of the present invention,several exemplary embodiments of the invention are illustrated in thehereinbelow-described FIGS. of the accompanying drawings and aredescribed in detail hereinafter.

FIG. 1 is a reduced size, fragmentary, partially broken away,threedimensional, pictorial view, illustrating one exemplary embodimentof the present invention. It should be clearly understood that, fordrawing space conservation reasons, three intermediate portions of thedevice are broken away and removed entirely in order to effectivelyshorten the lateral extent of the apparatus which normally issubstantially longer in a lateral direction than shown in FIG. I. Also,it should be noted that certain portions of the exhaust flue and of theore supply and feeding bin and hopper are broken away and removed fromFIG. 1 for drawing space conservation reasons.

FIG. 2 is a side view similar in many respects to FIG. 1, although it isa true orthographic side view rather than an oblique view in the mannerof FIG. 1. Furthermore, this view largely comprises a substantiallyvertical central plane sectional view taken largely along the planeindicated by the arrows 2-2 of FIG. 1, although certain parts of theapparatus are shown in full side elevation in FIG. 2 rather than insection on said central plane as indicated by the arrows 2-2 of FIG. I.This is done in order to provide the greatest possible amount ofinformation in FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view taken substantially along the plane indicatedby the arrows 3-3 of FIG. l and primarily comprises a cross-sectionalview of the extended tubular oretreatment portion of the heating furnacemeans and the hollow ore-flow tube means rotatively concentricallymounted therein. However, an upper portion of the support meanseffectively rollably supporting the inner ore-flow tube means is shownfragmentarily in elevation in FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 is a further fragmentary view taken substantially along the planeindicated by the arrows 4-4 of FIG. 3 and comprises a central planesection taken along the axis of an exemplary one of the plurality ofstress-transmitting spokes effectively connecting thestress-transferring outer rim of the wheel means, rollably supported onthe roller means of the underlying support means, to the centrallyconcentrically positioned inner ore-flow tube means. This view alsoillustrates, in enlarged form, an exemplary one of the expansion jointspace means and the corresponding longitudinally extendable andretractable heat-resistant seal means extending across open portions ofsaid expansion joint space means between adjacent end surfaces of theextended ore-treatment furnace means portion and the correspondingstress-transferring wheel means for effectively sealing and preventingthe escape of hot furnace flue gases from the interior hot furnace fluegas passage while readily allowing thermally caused relative movement ofsaid stress-transferring wheel means caused by thermal expansion andcontraction of the inner ore-flow tube means carrying same relative tothe fixed ore-treatment furnace portion. This view also illustrates atypical one of the two thermal expansion joints between adjacenttelescopically overlapped and effectively relatively nonrotatably keyedor splined engaged end parts of adjacent portions of the longitudinalore-flow tube means and which allows for thermal expansion of thelongitudinal ore-flow tube means, without requiring movement ofoppositelongitudinally fixed end mounted portions thereof, and for doingso in a structurally strong and effectively sealed manner. This viewalso shows a portion of a typical one of the three longitudinally spacedvapor and ore separating and isolating means carried by the longitudinalore-flow means.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary view, taken substantially along theplane indicated by the arrows 5-5 of FIG. 2 and comprises primarily anend elevation of a lower outflow terminus or discharge end of theore-flow tube means and the means provided at said discharge end forcontrolled gravityfeeding discharge of treated ore, and also the airinflow means provided at said discharge end for allowing inflow of airinto the hottest portion of the interior of the ore-flow tube meansthelower portion thereof-for oxidizing disassociated sulfur in order toprevent recombination thereof with disassociated mercury vapor.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary, partly broken away, persepectiveview illustrating the exemplary vapor and ore separating and isolatingmeans shown in cross section in FIG. 4 and is exemplary of the other twosuch units carried by the ore-flow tube means at longitudinally spacedlocations along the length thereof.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view, partly in section and partly in elevation,taken substantially along the plane indicated by the arrows 7-7 of FIG.2 and primarily illustrates feed control means for gravity-feeding, in acontrollably adjustable manner, a desired quantity of mercury-containingore from the ore supply bin and hopper means into the open inflow end ofthe ore-flow tube means, and shows it as taking the form of acontrollably adjustable regulating gate means and an inclined spoutconnected to the lower end of the ore supply bin and hopper means.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged, fragmentary view taken substantially along theplane indicated by the arrows 8-8 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary, somewhat diagrammatic and schematic view of amodified form of the mercury vapor extraction means and shows most ofthe apparatus with which it cooperates (which is similar to that shownin FIGS. 1 and 2) broken away and removed for reasons of drawing spaceconservation and simplicity and shows the modification of the mercuryvapor extraction means in a fragmentary, schematic, diagrammatic, andpartially broken away form, but in a form which provides a cleardisclosure of the essential feature of the modification when viewed inconjunction with the showing of FIGS. I and 2 of the first fonn of theinvention.

FIG. I0 is a greatly reduced size, fragmentary view of a largelydiagrammatic and schematic nature similar in certain respects toportions of FIG. 1, but does not provide a full structural showing inthe manner of FIG. 1 since this would merely be repetitive and thecorresponding structure has already been fully disclosed in FIG. 1. Thisview is primarily for the purpose of illustrating an alternatearrangement wherein each of the three ore-flow tube means portions ispositively driven without the use of spline means at each of thejunction means between adjacent ends of the three ore-flow tube meansportions as in the first fonn of the invention. Thus, the elimination ofsaid spline means and the provision of other direct driving means foreach of the three tube portions is the major showing of this view of aslight modification of the invention.

FIG. 11 is a somewhat larger-scale view similar to a left portion ofFIG. 2, but shows a modified arrangement of the concentricallypositioned tube means of the mercury vapor extraction means wherein itrotates with the main ore-flow tube means and is exteriorly providedwith rotative bearing means and fluid transmitting coupling means tocouple the rotating end of said extraction tube with respect to a fixedtube portion connected to the mercury vapor extraction pump means.

FIG. 12 is a view somewhat similar to a portion of FIG. 4 butillustrates a modified fonn of the spoke means of the enlargedstress-transferring wheel means cam'ed by the main ore-flow tube meansfor positively supporting same on the underlying exteriorly positionedroller means, wherein said spoke means is made of a solid (nonliquid),thermally conductive material, exteriorly thermally insulated.

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary view generally similar to a portion of FIG. 6and illustrates a slight modification thereof wherein the outlet end ofthe spiral tube of each vapor and ore separating and isolating means isprovided with controllably adjustable gate means or restriction means tocause the spiral tube to normally be substantially filled with particlesof crushed ore and thus act efiectively as a vapor block.

Generally speaking, the exemplary form of the present inventionillustrated comprises heating furnace means having an extended tubularor treatment portion extending laterally and slightly angularly upwardlyform a main portion of the furnace means and in interior communicationtherewith and having positioned therein a through-passing hollowore-flow tube means made of a metallic material of high termalconductivity so that ore may be introduced at the upper end of said oretube means, which is rotated by suitable driving means, whereby to feedthe ore from said upper end downwardly angularly and laterally towardthe main furnace portion while hot furnace flue gases are simultaneouslypassing upwardly angularly in the opposite direction around and alongthe exterior of said hollow ore-flow tube means so that said ore will bevery effectively heated by the contraflow or counterflow arrangementjust described in general terms and will arrive at a lower portion ofsaid ore-flow tube means within the main furnace means, but completelyphysically isolated therefrom, at an elevated temperature sufficient todisassociate mercury ore of the mercuric sulfide or cinnabar type intomercury and sulfur with the mercury being immediately vaporized intomercury vapor and directly and positively extracted from said lowermaximum temperature portion of said ore-flow tube means, which may betermed the disassociation portion thereof, to a position exteriorthereof and being subsequently condensed back into purified liquidmercury. Said mercury vapor extraction is performed by suitably mercuryvapor extraction means and said condensing of the vaporized mercury isperformed by suitable condenser means.

It should be noted that the ore-flow tube means referred to above iseffectively separated, in the exemplary first form of the inventionillustrated, into three different ore and vapor chambers comprising anupper or upstream ore and vapor chamber, a middle or intermediate oreand vapor chamber, and a lower or downstream ore and vapor chamber, witheach ore and vapor chamber being separated from the next ore and vaporchamber by novel vapor and ore separating and isolating means, each ofwhich is capable of readily transmitting ore therethrough from oneinterior ore and vapor chamber to the next downstream or downwardlyadjacent ore and vapor chamber, but each of which is effective togreatly inhibit or substantially prevent the similar downstream orupstream flow of vapor from one interior ore and vapor chamber to thenext downstream or downwardly adjacent or the next upstream or upwardlyadjacent ore and vapor chamber through said vapor and ore separating andisolating means.

In this improved arrangement the upper or upstream ore and vapor chamberis normally heated to a relatively moderate temperature, perhaps of theorder of 300, although not specifically so limited, for vaporizing anddriving off moisture associated with the ore initially, and this may beexhausted to atmosphere through the open inflow end of the ore-flow tubemeans. After the ore, but not the vaporized moisture passes through thefirst vapor and ore separating and isolating means into the intermediateor middle ore and vapor chamber, the ore is then heated by the hotfurnace flue gases to a temperature of perhaps the order of 700 althoughnot specifically so limited, and this vaporizes virtually all of thefree mercury associated with the ore so this middle or intermediatechamber might be termed the free mercuryextraction region or zone.

Then the heated ore, but not the mercury vapor produced from thevaporized free mercury originally contained in the ore, is passedthrough the second vapor and ore separating and isolating means into thethird lower or lowermost downstream-positioned ore and vapor chamberwhich is the one passing through the main furnace means itself, asmentioned in the preceding paragraph, where the ore is now heated to athird temperature higher than either of the other two temperaturesmentioned hereinbefore of perhaps the order of 1 100, although notspecifically so limited, such that the chemically combined mercury inthe ore, such as cinnabar or the like, is disassociated into freemercury and sulfur which combines with the air fed into said lowerdisassociated extraction region or zone comprising said third orlowermost chamber, to produce sulfur dioxide or sulfur trioxide, whichthus prevents the disassociated sulfur from again combining with thedisassociated mercury vapor. The mercury vapor produced in this lowerchamber or disassociation extraction region is then removed by themercury vapor extraction means, which may be a part of the mercury vaporextraction means used for extracting the mercury vapor produced fromfree mercury originally present in the ore by vaporization in the middlechamber as mentioned above or which may be an independent and separatemercury vapor extraction means.

in the exemplary form of the invention illustrated, the above-mentionedheating furnace means is generally designated by the reference numeraland may be said to comprise a main furnace portion 22, which effectivelycomprises a hollow fire box means designated by the same referencenumeral and which defines therein an interior main furnace heatingchamber designated at 24.

In the exemplary form of the invention illustrated, said heating furnacemeans generally designated at 20 also is provided with thehereinbefore-generally-referred-to extended ore treatment portion,which, in the exemplary form of the invention illustrated, takes theform of a longitudinal cylindrical hollow tubular ore treatment furnaceextension portion generally designated at 26, which directlycommunicates, through the opening 28, with the interior main furnaceheating chamber 24 and which, therefore, is adapted to directly receivetherefrom hot furnace flue gases when the fuel-buming heating meansgenerally designated at is in operation.

It will also be noted that, in the exemplary form of the inventionillustrated, the extended tubular ore-treatment furnace portion 26 has aremote end portion designated at 32 laterally spaced from the fire boxmeans 22 and slightly elevated thereabove so as to position said tubularore-treatment furnace extension portion 26 in an upwardly inclinedlaterally extended relationship from the fire box 22 to an upwardlydirected exhaust flue 34 connected to said remote or upper end portion32 thereof. in other words, said laterally upwardly inclined extendedtubular ore-treatment furnace portion 26 is positioned at apredetermined pitch angle adapted for appropriate exhausting of hot fluegases from the main heating chamber 24 of the furnace fire box 22 and,more particularly, adapted for the effective downward flow of mercuryore in the inner longitudinal ore-flow tube means, which is generallydesignated by the reference numeral 36, from the upper inflow end 38thereof to the lower outflow or discharge end 40 thereof. Thisore-feeding action, of course, is also a function of the rate at whichthe inner longitudinal oreflow tube means 36 is rotated, as will bedescribed in greater detail hereinafter.

It should be noted that the longitudinal ore flow tube means 36 referredto generally above is usually of substantially cylindrical configurationhaving an exterior cross-sectional diameter substantially smaller thanthe interior cross-sectional diameter of said ore-treatment tubularfurnace extension portion 26 and is mounted by suitable mounting means,which will be described in greater detail hereinafter, concentricallytherein whereby to define between the exterior of said longitudinalore-flow tube means 36 and the interior of said tubular furnaceextension portion 26 a longitudinal upwardly angularly inclined annularhot furnace flue gas passage designated by the reference numeral 42 andextending from, and in communication with, said interior heating chamber24 of the furnace fire box 22 as a source of hot flue gases passingthrough said annular passage 42, and also being in communication withthe previously mentioned exhaust flue 34 for effectively exhausting saidhot furnace flue gases after they have passed along the completeexterior length of said longitudinal ore-flow tube means 36 positionedwithin said tubular furnace extension portion 26 and have effectivelytransferred most of the available heat from said hot furnace flue gasesthrough the wall of said ore-flow tube 36 to the interior thereof and tomercury ore such as that generally designated at 44, adapted to be fedalong the bottom inside surface thereof. in other words, it may be saidthat the abovementioned hot flue gas passage 42 is in a highly effectiveform of contraflow or counterflow heat transfer relationship withrespect to the inner concentrically positioned ore-flow tube means 36for very effectively heating the ore 44 adapted to flow therethrough.

The effectiveness of the transfer of heat from the hot flue gases alongthe length of the annular passage 42 through the exterior wall 46 of thelongitudinal ore-tube means 36 to the interior thereof and to the ore 44carried within said interior thereof, is enhanced by reason of the factthat the contraflow or counterflow arrangement of the hot flue gasesalong the passage 42 upwardly and angularly, and the oppositely directeddownwardly and angularly directed flow of the ore 44 (of course, in amanner isolated from each other by said wall 46 of the ore tube means36) causes the hottest flue gases, which will, of course, be at the leftend of the ore treatment furnace extension portion 26, to be in heattransfer relationship with respect to the hottest portions of the ore44, while the coldest portions of the hot flue gases (which will, ofcourse, be in the right end of the ore-treatment furnace extensionportion 26) will be in effective heat transfer relationship with respectto the coldest portion of the ore 44. This has the effect of maintainingas nearly constant a temperature differential across the wall 46 of thelongitudinal ore-flow tube means 36 as is possible, which maximizesthermal efficiency as opposed to an arrangement where said temperaturedifferential varies from a very large or extreme magnitude at one end ofthe ore heating region to an extremely low magnitude at the other end ofthe ore heating region. Such a conventional prior art heatingarrangement produces extremely low thermal efficiency and greatlyincreases the fuel consumption required for effectively heating aquantity of ore and also reduces the amount of the available heat whichis extracted from the hot furnace flue gases so that, with such anoncontraflow or noncounterflow prior art arrangement, the hot fluegases exhausted to atmosphere will still be at a relatively hightemperature and will carry off to ambient atmosphere and waste a greatamount of heat. However, the improved contraflow or counterflowarrangement of the present invention just described produces a maximumthermal efficiency and a minimum fuel consumption of the fuel-burningheating means 30 and also produces a maximum extraction of the availableheat from the hot flue gases flowing along the annular passage 42 sothat by the time they are exhausted through the exhaust flue 34 toambient atmosphere, a much larger amount of the available heat has beenextracted therefrom and said exhaust flue gases have dropped to arelatively low temperature. Of course, this may be adjusted andcontrolled by varying the length of the passage 42 and/or the rate offlue gas flow therethrough, the turbulence thereof, the thermalconductivity of the material of which the wall 46 of the ore-flow tubemeans 36 is made, and by modifying the extent of the thermal insulationmeans 48 effectively insulating the furnace extension ortreatmentportion 26. All of these factors and others, such as the amount of ore44 fed through the ore-flow tube means 36, plus other conventionalwell-known factors affecting heat transfer may modify the amount of heatextracted from the hot flue gases in the passage 42 and, therefore,consequently modifying the temperature of the hot flue gases exhaustedthrough the exhaust flue 34. However, the essential principles of theimproved thermal efficiency of the present invention in any given sizeand/or volumetric capacity, by reason of the contraflow or counterflowarrangement described above are still valid and effective and comprise asubstantial advantage over conventional mercury ore roasting means.

The specific construction of the exemplary form of the oreflow tubemeans 36 in three end-to-end, telescopically engaged and effectivelyrelatively nonrotatably coupled relationship to each other, the specificconstruction of the exemplary form of the hereinbefore-mentioned vaporand ore separating and isolating means dividing the ore-flow tube means36 into the hereinbefore-mentioned upper, middle, and lower ore andvapor chambers, and the specific construction of the exemplary form ofthe hereinbefore-mentioned expansion space and longitudinally extendableand retractable seal means closing same and coupling the movablestresstransferring or tube-supporting wheel means relative to portionsof the furnace extension ore-treatment portion 26 will not be describedat this point but will be detailed later on in this specification.

It should be noted that the heating means 30 has been referred to aboveand is shown in the drawings as being of a fuel-buming type whichnormally comprises conventional burner means 50 provided withcontrollable air-aspirating means generally indicated at 52 forproviding a mixture of fuel and air of optimum combustibility whenemitted from the burner means 50. The fuel might comprise oil, naturalgas, manufactured gas, petroleum products, or any other suitable fuel,and the invention is not specifically limited to any particular type ofburner means or any particular type of fuel adapted to be burnedthereby.

Also in an even broader sense, it should be noted that the presentinvention does not relate to the detailed nature of the heating means 30but merely requires that it be capable of providing heat and, therefore,it should be noted that said heating means might in certain forms of theinvention, comprise some other form of heating means which does notactually burn fuel. For example, it might comprise an efficient form ofheat exchanger means adapted to be supplied with a heated working mediumfed thereinto from a suitable source thereof or it might comprise anelectrically energizable heating means or any other equivalentarrangement capable of providing the desired amount of heat for theinterior chamber 24 of the furnace fire box means 22.

It will be noted that because of the substantial length of theore-treatment tubular furnace extension portion 26, it is necessary toprovide supplementary structural support means therefor and additionallyand for similar reasons, it is necessary to provide additional supportand/or mounting means of a structurally strong type for mounting andpositioning said ore-flow tube means 36 in the previously describedconcentric relationship within the ore treatment furnace extensionportion 26. In the latter case, the mounting problem is complicated byreason of the fact that said inner ore-flow tube means is rotatablymounted for rotation around a longitudinal axis thereof which is alsothe longitudinal axis of said furnace extension portion 26.

The complication in the rotatable mounting of said inner ore-flow tubemeans 36 arises from several factors, such as the very substantiallength of said ore-flow tube means 36, the great weight of said ore-flowtube means 36 and the ore 44 adapted to flow therethrough, and the factthat said ore-flow tube means 36 is heated to very substantiallyelevated temperatures by the hot flue gases passing along the exteriorthereof by way of the annular passage 42, as previously described. Ofcourse, the maximum heating of said ore-flow tube means 36 will occur atthe lower end thereof inside of the interior heating chamber 24 of themain furnace fire box 22 and at regions of the ore-flow tube means 36near the right side of said furnace fire box 22.

Therefore, in order to properly rotatably mount and support said innerore-flow tube means 36, the present invention includes a novel type ofmounting means such as is generally designated at 54 and which, in theexemplary form of the invention illustrated, is shown as comprising aplurality of circumferentially enlarged stress-transferring wheel means56 effectively concentrically rigidly connected to and supporting saidlongitudinal ore-flow tube means 36 at any required number of spacedlocations along the length thereof by means of a plurality oflongitudinally effectively apertured and perforated radial wheel spokemeans 58 whereby to effectively cause the longitudinal ore-flow tubemeans 36 to comprise a common hub for all of said plurality of wheelmeans 56.

The above-mentioned mounting means generally designated at 54 alsoincludes a plurality of upstanding structural support means, such asgenerally designated at 60, provided at the top thereof with rollermeans 62 rollably receiving and supporting corresponding rim portions 64of corresponding ones of said plurality of wheel means 56, thuspositively rotatably supporting the longitudinal ore-flow tube means 36at each portion thereof rigidly carrying such a wheel means 56.

ln the exemplary arrangement illustrated it will be noted that thelowermost stress-transferring wheel means 56 is carried by the outwardlyextended lower or left end of the oreflow tube means 36 at a positionexterior of both the main furnace means 20 and the fire box 22 thereofand, of course, exterior of the furnace tubular extension portion 26and, thus, no problem exists with respect to the radial outwardextension of said left extreme lowermost stress-transferring wheel means56 for effective supported engagement by the left extreme upstandingstructural support member 60 in a manner which will be describedhereinafter.

Substantially the same situation exists with respect to the rightextreme stress-transferring wheel means 56 which is also positionedbeyond the right end of the tubular furnace extension portion 26 and,thus, provides no problem with respect to its supported engagement bythe right extreme upstanding structural support means 60 in a mannersuch as described hereinafter.

However, the two intermediate upstanding stresstransferring wheel means56 are positioned at locations such that they must pass outwardlythrough annular recesses in the tubular furnace extension portion 26 inorder to be positioned for supported contact by the corresponding twointermediate upstanding structural support means 60. Therefore, two suchintermediate annular recesses are provided in the tubular furnaceextension portion 26, and each is designated by the reference numeral 66and is positioned at the appropriate intermediate location of eachcorresponding one of the two intermediate stress-transferring wheelmeans 56 whereby to allow said intermediate wheel means 56 to bepositioned therein and to extend outwardly through its annular recess66, thus providing for exterior, rollably supported contact of thecorresponding roller means 62 carried by the corresponding upstandingstructural support means 60 with the corresponding exterior rim 64 ofsaid particular intermediate stress-transferring wheel means 56 as isshown in FIGS. 1-3.

It should be noted that the left annular recess 66 is shorter in adirection parallel to the axis of the longitudinal ore-flow tube means36 than the right annular recess 66 and that each of said recesses 66 islonger in said longitudinal direction than the corresponding dimensionof the received portion of the corresponding wheel means 56, whereby toeffectively comprise and define expansion joint space means such as isdesignated by the reference numeral 57 and which exists between oppositesides of the wheel means 56 and the adjacent end parts 59 of the tubularfurnace extension 26, and which will allow for thermally caused relativemovement of said intermediate wheel means 56 with respect to the tubularfurnace extension portion 26 as a result of thermal expansion orcontraction of the inner ore-flow tube means 36 to which each of saidstress-transferring wheel means 56 is rigidly attached.

In the example illustrated, the expansion joint space means 57 iseffectively sealed and closed by longitudinally extendable andretractable heat-resistant seal means, indicated at 61, and spring means63 biasing same into sealed joint closing relationship thereacross as isbest shown in FIG. 4 with respect to an exemplary enlarged one of theexpansion structural arrangements just described.

It will be noted that a greater expansion joint space 57 is providedadjacent to the right intennediate stress-transferring wheel means 56than adjacent to the left stress-transferring wheel means 56, aspreviously mentioned. In the exemplary form of the inventionillustrated, this is because of the fact that the right one of the pairof intermediate stress-transferring wheel means 56 will normally movemuch more than the left stress'transferring wheel means 56 of saidintermediate pair thereof because of the fact that the underlying rollermeans 62 engaging the exterior rim 64 of the left intermediatestresstransferring wheel means 56 is provided with longitudinal movementlimiting thrust flange means 68 which minimizes longitudinal movement ofthe left wheel means 56 of said intermediate pair of wheel means, whilethe right wheel means 56 of said intermediate pair thereof has its rimengaged by underlying roller means 62 having no such longitudinalmovement limiting thrust flange means 68 and having sufficient length toallow a considerable amount of longitudinal movement of the rightintermediate wheel means 56 without causing any disengagement of theexterior rim 64 thereof and the corresponding underlying nonflangedroller means 62.

The above-mentioned thermally caused movement of the right intennediatestress-transferring wheel means 56 of the intennediate pair thereof ismade possible by reason of the previously mentioned fact that thelongitudinal ore-tube means 36 actually comprises three differentlongitudinal oreflow tube means portions designated at 36U, 36M, and361., respectively, with the lowermost left tube portion 36L having aright end part 36Le which is exteriorly larger in diameter than themating left end part of the middle ore-flow tube means portion 36M andwith said middle ore-flow tube-means portion 36M having a right endportion 36Me which is exteriorly larger in diameter than the left end36Ue of the right uppermost oreflow tube means portion 36U, in each caseto an extent just such that the corresponding longitudinally adjacentend parts 36Ue, 36Me, and 36Le fit one into the other in telescopicallyoverlapped and effectively telescopically, relatively extendable andretractable engagement with each other, whereby to effectively providethe two intermediate thermal expansion joint means generally designatedat 361, which will freely allow thermal expansion and contraction as theore-flow tube means 36 is heated and cooled.

In the exemplary first form of the invention illustrated, the lowerore-tube means portion 36L has an interior diameter at its right end36Le just sufficient to telescopically receive the exterior of the leftend 36Me of the middle ore-tube means portion 36M, while the right end36Me of the middle ore-tube means 36M has an interior diameter justsufiicient to receive the exterior of the left end 36Ue of the upperore-tube means portion 36U. However, it should be clearly understoodthat the invention is not specifically limited to this arrangement andthat other types of end-to-end relatively extendable engagement areintended to be included and comprehended within the broad scope of thepresent invention. Of course, it should be understood that, if desired,the three different oreflow tube means portions 36U, 36M, and 36L, mayactually be of different diameters throughout their lengths, with theportion 36L being larger in diameter than the portion 36M, and with theportion 36M being larger in diameter than the portion 36U, in each caseto an extent such that the corresponding adjacent end parts 36Ue, 36Me,and 36Le fit, one into the other, in said telescopically overlapped andeffectively telescopically relatively extendable and retractableengagement with each other whereby to provide two intermediate, thermalexpansion joint means substantially identical to those generallydesignated at 36]. ln each such arrangement, the thermal expansion joint36] is such as to allow a limited degree of pivotal movement in a planetransverse to the longitudinal axis of the main ore-flow tube means 36so as to, in effect, allow a very limited degree of bending of the mainore-flow tube means 36 at each such thermal expansion joint means orjunction means 361 in addition to the relative longitudinal movement ofthe adjacent end parts 36Ue, 36Me, and 36Le permitted by said joints36].

In the exemplary arrangement, it will be noted that the extreme leftroller means 62 has longitudinal movement limiting thrust flange means68, thus substantially limiting movement of the left end of the lowerore-tube means portions 36L while leaving the right end thereof free forslidable longitudinal extension and retraction relative to the left endof the middle ore-tube means portion 36M which has its left endconstrained as to longitudinal movement by reason of the fact that theleft intermediate roller means 62 has the longitudinal movement limitingthrust flanges 68 previously referred to. The right end of theintermediate ore-tube means portion 36M is free to longitudinallylengthen or contract relative to the left end portion of the upperore-tube means portion 36U which has its right end relativelylongitudinally immobilized by reason of the fact that the right rollermeans 62 is provided with longitudinal movement limiting thrust flangemeans 68 of the type previously described.

Each of the roller means 62 which is provided with the longitudinalmovement limiting thrust flange means 68 which acts to support thecorresponding portion of the longitudinal ore-flow tube means 36, notonly vertically but in a manner neutralizing angular leftwardlydownwardly directed thrust thereagainst provided by the very substantialweight of the corresponding portions of the longitudinal ore-flow tubemeans 36 by reason of its downward angular inclination as clearly shownin FIGS. 1 and 2. This effective thrust neutralizing action of any ofsaid roller means 62 provided with such thrust flange means 68 may befurther enhanced by mounting the corresponding rollers on suitablethrust bearing means, if desired (said thrust bearing means not beingshown, since such are well known in the art).

lt should be noted that the extreme right structural support means 60and the corresponding extreme right stresstransferring wheel means 56positioned beyond the right end of the tubular furnace extension 26 areeffectively provided with appropriate driving means, such as isgenerally designated at 70, in effective driving relationship withrespect to the ore-flow tube means 36 for rotating same around thelongitudinal axis thereof in the manner previously generally described.

It will be noted that said driving means 70, in the exemplary form ofthe invention illustrated, comprises an ore-cylinder circumferentialdrive gear 72 carried adjacent to the right side of the extreme rightone of said previously described stresstransferring wheel 56 immediatelyat the right side of the corresponding effectively flanged roller means62 with said driving gear 72 being in driven engagement with respect toa pinion gear 74 mounted on the drive shaft 76 of the driving motor 78which, of course, is adapted to be controllably energized by suitablecontrol means (not shown since such are well known in the art). Usually,suitable reduction gear means will be employed, and such are not shownin the invention since reduction gear means are also well known in theart. The reason why reduction gear means are normally employed, is thefact that the ore-flow tube means 36 is normally adapted to be rotatedat a relatively slow rate of only a small number of revolutions perminute for providing proper feeding action of the ore 44 longitudinallyalong the bottom inside surface of the ore-flow tube means 36 from theinflow end 38 thereof to the outflow ore discharge end 40 thereof.

in order to provide for positive rotation of the middle and lowerore-tube means portions 36M and 36L, suitable key or spline means may beprovided in the telescopically engaged junction portions 36.] thereof,as indicated at 65. This may comprise any suitable type of relativelynonrotatable key or spline means or any functional equivalent thereofwhich is capable of transmitting rotary driving torque from the upperore tube means portion 36U to the middle ore-tube means portion 36M andfor same to the lower ore-tube means portion 36L.

In certain forms of the invention the key or spline means 65 may beeliminated, and the driving motor means 78 may be drivingly coupled toeach of the tube sections, or portions, perhaps most effectively bydriving engagement with stresstransferring wheel means such as thoseillustrated at 56 rigidly connected thereto, and the construction may bemodified so that each separate ore-tube means portion will have at leastone such stress-transferring wheel means 56 conveniently positioned fordriven engagement by such a driving motor in such a modified form of theinvention, if desired.

Each of the structural support means 60 referred to above may comprise anumber of column members or vertical loadsupporting members 80 providedwith suitable base means 82 and may vary widely in construction andconfiguration within the broad scope of the present invention.

Each of said structural supporting means 60 has two sets of opposedpairs of upwardly extending spaced ears 83 which rotatably mount thecorresponding pair of said roller members 62 which are spaced so as tolie in substantially the same horizontal plane symmetrically positionedon each side of a vertical central plane bisecting the longitudinalore-flow tube means 36, thus providing an effective two-point support ateach support means 60 for the corresponding stresstransferring wheelmeans 56. In the case of each of the intermediately positioned ones ofsaid structural support means 60 which lie below said ore-treatmentfurnace extension portion 26, the upper ends of said column members 80are effectively provided with structural extension bracket members 84adapted to firmly engage and support exterior portions of said furnaceextension or treatment portion 26 whereby to firmly support same at saidintermediate locations.

It should be noted that the ore-flow tube means 36 at each of itsopposite ends extends through corresponding apertures 86 and 88 so thatthe corresponding lower discharge end portion 40 and corresponding upperinflow end portion 38 of said longitudinal ore-flow tube means 36 arepositioned beyond and completely outside of the furnace extensionoretreatment portion 26 and also the main furnace firebox 22. Theaperture or hole 86 is actually in the left sidewall of the main furnacefirebox 22 and a small annular clearance space of perhaps one-eighth ofan inch radial dimension, or the like, is provided to allow the ore-flowtube means 36 to rotate with respect to the aperture 86 while notallowing any very substantial amount of heat loss therethrough. Asimilar small annular clearance space is provided between the otheraperture 88 in the opposite, otherwise closed, end wall 90 of thefurnace extension ore-treatment portion 26 for similar purposes. Itshould be noted that the above-mentioned small annular clearance spacesmay be effectively sealed and closed off by sealing means generallysimilar to the previously described sealing means best illustrated inH0. 4, and including either or both of the elements 61 and 63 thereof,or various other substantially functionally equivalent arrangements maybe provided for such a sealing purpose if desired.

In the exemplary form of the invention illustrated, said lower dischargeend portion 40 of the ore-flow tube means 36 is effectively providedwith a partially closed terminal discharge end panel or portion 92carried by a tube 122 (which will be described hereinafter) closelyadjacent to and across most of the upper portion of the discharge end 40of the ore-flow tube means 36 and having a cutaway portion at the bottomthereof providing a bottom discharge opening 94 for discharging treatedore, from which mercury has been extracted, into a discharge chutemeans, such as is generally designated at 96 and which may have a remoteeffective outflow end which is adapted to be moved from one location toanother so that discharged, previously treated ore or tailings may bedisposed of in a manner not providing a single large pile thereof. Ofcourse, this may be supplemented by additional material-moving meanssuch as conveyor belt means, or various other material-moving means forappropriately disposing of such tailings if desired and since sucharrangements are well known in the art, they are not shown in fulldetail in the drawings of the present invention.

The upper inflow end 38 of the ore-flow tube means 36 is open whereby tobe adapted to receive the lower dispensing spout portion 102 of an oresupply and feeding means generally designated at 104 and taking the formof a bin and hopper 106 adapted to be supplied through a top opening 108with a quantity of mercury-containing ore such as mercuric sulfide orcinnabar ore, or the like, usually in crushed, particulate, orcomminuted form, and which is adapted to be angularly downwardlydispensed through the dispensing spout 102 into the inflow end 38 of thelongitudinal ore-flow tube means 36 in a gravity-feeding manner wheneverthe controllably adjustable regulating gate means 110 is verticallyangularly elevated so as to allow a bottom portion of said ore to slidealong the bottom surface of said angularly inclined dispensing spout 102onto the bottom inside surface of the longitudinal ore-flow tube means36. Thereafter, the ore 44 will be fed along the bottom inside surfaceof the longitudinal ore-flow tube means 36 as a result of the rotarylifting and falling movement imparted to said ore 44 by reason of theangular downward inclination of said ore-flow tube means 36 and byreason of the rotation thereof provided by the driving means generallydesignated at 70.

Incidentally, it should be noted that the lower plate 92 closing thelower discharge end 40 of said longitudinal oreflow tube means 36 may bea controllably adjustable flow regulating gate means of the same generaltype as designated at 110 at the bottom of ore supply and feeding means104, although it is not specifically so limited in all forms of theinvention.

The longitudinal ore-flow tube means'36 may be effectively provided withair-inflow means in interior communication therewith for providingsufficient inflow of air (actually the oxygen of the air) thereinto forsubstantially completely oxidizing sulfur disassociated from mercuricsulfide ore 44 by reason of the heating thereof by the hot furnace fluegases. Such air-inflow means may be controllably adjustable to providethe desired amount of air (and, therefore, oxygen) to correspond to thevolume of disassociated sulfur produced by the operation of theapparatus.

In the exemplary form of the invention illustrated, said airinflow meansis generally designated by the reference numeral 112 and is provided atthe lower outflow end 40 of the longitudinal ore-flow tube means 36,although the invention is not specifically so limited.

As illustrated, said air-inflow means 112 comprises an adjustable airvalve opening means 114 effectively provided in the lower terminaleffective end plate 92. Said airinflow means 112 is adjustable for thepurpose of controlling the amount of inflow of such air for theeffective neutralizing of sulfur disassociated from the mercury ore 44as a result of the heating thereof by the hot furnace flue gases to atemperature in the range of between 500 to 600 C. In certain forms ofthe invention, said air-inflow means 112 may be of a nonadjustable type,may be located at only one of the ends of the ore-flow tube means 36, ormay be otherwise in interior communication therewith. The air-inflowmeans 112 may also be said to include a similar adjustable air valveopening means 114 effectively provided in the transverse sealing wall127 of the immediately adjacent and lowermost one of thehereinafter-described vapor and ore separating and isolating means 118.Such an auxiliary additional adjustable air valve opening means 114 isshown in FIG. 6 for illustrative purposes but is in phantom because itis not actually present in the middle vapor and ore separating andisolating means 118, which is the one shown in H6. 6, but thephantom-line showing thereof is intended to represent the way it wouldappear as carried by the lowermost one or the left extreme one of thethree vapor and ore separating and isolation means 118. This additionaladjustable air valve opening means 114 may be arranged to be effectivelycoupled to and operating simultaneously with the operation of thefirst-mentioned air valve opening means 114 provided in the lowerterminal effective end plate 92 so that they can both be simultaneouslyoperated from an exterior position in a manner such as to permit theaccess of a desired amount of air into the lowermost one of the ore andvapor chambers defining that one designated by the reference numeral119L as referred to hereinafter.

The previously mentioned vapor and ore separating and isolating meanspositioned within the longitudinal ore-tube means 36 and effectivelydividing it into the three previously mentioned upper, middle, and lowerore and vapor chambers comprises the three structures generallydesignated at 118, and each of said three ore and vapor chambers isgenerally designated by the reference numeral 119U, 119M, and 119L,respectively.

It will be noted, as is best shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, that each of saidvapor and ore separating and isolating means 114 comprises a helicallyarranged and, in certain forms of the invention, substantiallyrectangularly cross-sectionally shaped ore through-passing tube 121which has an inlet opening 123 within an upper one of two adjacent oreand vapor chambers and which has an outlet opening 125 within the nextdownwardly adjacent ore and vapor chamber.

It will be understood that as the ore-tube means 36 rotates, the ore 44travels helically downwardly along the inside thereof and thus when itstrikes the transverse sealing wall 127 of the vapor and ore separatingand isolating means 118, will be fed through the inlet opening 123 ofthe ore throughpassing tube 121 in a manner such as to substantiallyfill same. Continued rotation of the ore-tube means 36 will cause theore in the helical through-passing ore-tube 121 to move therethroughuntil it is discharged from the outlet opening 125 thereof in the nextdownward adjacent ore and vapor chamber. Very little vapor will passtherethrough because of the effective closing of the opening within thehelical throughpassing ore-tube 121 by the particulate mercury orecontained therein. In other words, the mercury ore 44 itself acts as aneffective stopper for the vapor in one chamber and prevents anysubstantial amount thereof from passing from an upper ore and vaporchamber to the next downwardly adjacent ore and vapor chamber, or viceversa.

The uppermost separating and isolating means 118 has no auxiliary meansfor passing vapor toward the left from the upper chamber 119U, and sincesaid vapor is normally water vapor, this is desirable and it is normallyexhausted or vented through the inlet opening 33. However, the nextdownstream positioned separating and isolating means 118 does have acentral opening 129 passing therethrough and sealingly receiving theopen suction or insertion end 12s of a mercury vapor extractor tube 122which extends leftwardly through the lower chamber 119L and through thelowermost sealing and isolating means 118 to a position exterior of theore-flow tube means as and the furnace firebox 22 where it is providedwith suction pump means 124 which positively sucks the mercury vaporfrom the middle chamber 119M produced by vaporization of free mercuryoriginally contained in the ore 44 and draws it through the open suctiontip 126 of the extractor tube 122, through said tube 122 to a leftwardlyextreme position completely exterior of the entire furnace means 20,after which the mercury vapor is passed through a condenser means, suchas is generally designated at 128, which acts to recondense the mercuryvapor into liquid mercury adapted to be discharged through the dischargeend 130 of said condenser into any suitable receptacle for receiving theextracted and purified mercury. It should be noted that the extractortube 122 is also provided with another suction tip 131 connected thereto(and, in certain forms of the invention, through a one-way valve meanssuch as is shown in phantom at 133, although not specifically solimited), positioned within the lower ore and vapor chamber 119L so thatmercury vapor produced therein after disassociation of chemicallycombined forms of mercury has been produced by the high heat to whichthe ore is subjected in said lowermost disassociation region, can beadded to the mercury vapor produced by vaporization of free mercury inthe middle chamber 119M. It should be noted that in the exampleillustrated, said condenser means 128 takes the form of an effectiveheat exchanger comprising a coiled length of tubing 122T incommunication with the mercury vapor extraction tube 122 by way of thepump means 124 and with said condenser tubing 122T being coiled withinan outer container 132 which effectively comprises means for applying acoolant liquid, such as is designated at 134, to the exterior of saidcondenser tubing 122T whereby to extract heat therefrom and effectivelycondense the mercury vapor back into liquid form.

While the condenser means 128 illustrated in the drawing and describedabove comprises one form thereof effective for the purposes of thepresent invention, it should be noted that the invention is notspecifically limited thereto and a great variety of different types ofheat exchanger and/or condenser means may be applied in lieu of thespecific condenser means illustrated at 128.

It should be noted that all portions of the furnace means 20, in theexemplary form of the invention illustrated, are shown as comprising anexterior cylindrical wall 136 made of highstrength metallic materialsuch as steel, or the like, lined with suitable thermal insulationmaterial such as the refractory firebrick means 48. However, thesestructural features maybe modified within the broad scope of the presentinvention.

Incidentally, it should be noted that, in certain of the drawings, suchas in FIGS. 1 and 2 for example, the thermal insulation material takingthe form of refractory firebrick means 48, which actually lines thecomplete furnace means 20 including both the firebox means 22 and thelateral extension ore-treatment portion 26 thereof, is not shown indetail with respect to all of the rectangular gridlike edge abutment orjunction lines between adjacent bricks which one would normally see whenviewing said firebrick means 48 in elevation, such as is shownfragmentarily in FIG. 4, for example. It is to be understood that all ofsaid firebrick means would, when seen in elevation, resemble thefragmentary showing thereof illustrated in FIG. 4, and that this is notdone in various of the other views of the drawing for reasons of drawingsimplification and clarity, and since the detailed structure of therefractory firebrick type of insulating means 48 does not touch upon theinventive aspects of the present invention and, furthermore, is wellknown in the art.

It should also be noted that the flow of the hot furnace flue gasesalong the annular passage 42 is substantially unimpeded by the radialspokes 58 rigidly connecting each of the stresstransferring wheel means56 to the corresponding portion of the longitudinal ore-flow tube means36 since large effective apertures or passages 138 are defined betweeneach arcuately adjacent pair of said spoke means 58. However, in certainforms of the invention it may be found that the hot flue gases mayprovide excessive localized heating of said spoke means 58 which may beobjectionable. This is particularly likely to occur at locations of saidspoke means 58 quite near to the main furnace firebox 22 and, where thisproblem exists, means for preventing localized hot spots on the spokemeans 58 may be provided, and this may comprise the provision of hollowinteriors 140 in each such spoke means 58, as is best shown in FIG. 4illustrating one such exemplary hollow spoke means 58, which may then bepartially filled with a metallic heatconductive means or material, suchas is designated at 142 in FIG. 4 and which has a melting point lowerthan the temperature to which said spoke means 58 is to be subjected byhot furnace flue gases impinging thereupon and passing therearound. Itwill be understood that when localized overheating of the spoke 58 tendsto occur, the melted heatconductive metal 142 moves around within thehollow interior of the spoke means 58 under the action of the rotarymovement of the corresponding wheel means 56 (this being true because itwill be remembered that the entire ore-flow tube means 36 is beingpower-rotated by the driving means 70). Such movement of the liquefiedheat-conductive metal 142 (which might comprise lead, or the like) willact to positively prevent any localized hot spots and will tend tomaximize heat transfer efficiency and equalize temperatures along thecomplete spoke means to a degree such as to protect them againstlocalized overheating damage.

The air-inflow means 112 carried by the lower end effective terminalplate 92 is illustrated fragmentan'ly in FIG. 5. However, the specificillustrated form of this structure is optional and it may be modifiedand/or eliminated in certain forms of the invention, and this is alsotrue with respect to the upper regulating gate means 110 and the lowerregulating gate means form of lower effective terminal plate 92.

FIG. 9 merely illustrates a slight modification of the mercury vaporextraction means of the first form of the invention and since all otherparts remain the same this view is quite fragmentary, schematic, anddiagrammatic in nature, and it will be noted that the mercury vaporextraction means 120 comprises two separate mercury vapor extractortubes 122' shown as each having individual suction pump means 124'applying suction thereto and having outer end portions 143 which may beconnected to a condenser means such as that shown at 128 in the firstform of the invention, or which may be partially recirculated, recycled,retreated, or additionally processed in any desired manner, thus lendingextreme processing flexibility to this form of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a view very similar to portions of FIG. 1 although drawn to amuch smaller scale and shown in a much more schematic, fragmentary, anddiagrammatic form than FIG. I, which is thought to be permissible sinceFIG. 1 has provided a full showing of the structure of the repeatedparts so diagrammatically, schematically, and fragmentarily illustratedin FIG. 10. In other words, FIG. 10 is provided primarily for thepurpose of showing a slight modification of the first form of theinvention and, therefore, parts of this modification similar to those ofthe first form of the invention are designated by similar referencenumerals, followed by the letter 0, however.

In the FIG. 10 modification, it will be noted that each of the junctionmeans 36,10 is no longer keyed or splined as designated at 65 in thefirst form of the invention but otherwise still permits relativetelescopic extension and retraction and limited pivotal movement in aplane transverse to the longitudinal axis of the main ore-flow tubemeans 360 in a manner similar to the corresponding ore-tube thermalexpansion joint or junction means 36] of the first form of theinvention. However, since in this modification there is no rotativecoupling between adjacent main ore-flow tube portions 36Ua, 36Ma, and36La, it is clear that driving means of the type shown at 70 in thefirst form of the invention would only rotate the upper right ore-flowtube portion 36Ua and thus it is necessary to provide auxiliary powertransmission means, such as is indicated somewhat diagrammatically at145 in FIG. 10, driven by the main drive motor 780 and coupled to a ringgear 7 2a similar to that shown at 72 in the first form of the inventionand carried by a main supporting wheel means 560 connected to each ofthe three ore-flow tube means portions and thus providing a positivesimultaneous and synchronized driving means for each of the threeore-flow tube means portions 36Ua, 36Ma, and 36La. It should of coursealso be understood that independent driving motor means might beemployed for this purpose and that such an arrangement or any othersubstantially functionally equivalent arrangement is intended to beincluded and comprehended within the broad scope of the presentinvention.

FIG. 11 illustrates and alternate arrangement for mounting the innertube 122 of the mercury vapor extraction means I of the first form ofthe invention, and parts which are similar to those of the first form ofthe invention are designated by similar reference numerals, followed bythe letter b, however, in FIG. 11. It will be noted that in the FIG. 11modification the mercury vapor extractor tube 122b (which is also to beunderstood as being intended to be construed broadly enough to includethe meaning of an air injector tube as previously mentioned) is rigidlyattached with respect to the main oreflow tube means 36b and to thecorresponding two lowermost vapor and ore separating and isolating meansll8b and rotates therewith and is exteriorly provided at its lower orleft end with a fluid transmitting rotary coupling means such as isgenerally designated by the reference numeral 146, which allows theextracted mercury vapor to pass therethrough in a sealed manner and intothe fixed pumping means l24b. Otherwise this modification of theinvention is substantially the same as the first form of the inventionand it should be understood that either of these arrangements andvarious other substantially functionally equivalent arrangements arewithin the broad scope of the present invention and are intended to beincluded and comprehended herein.

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary view similar to a portion of FIG. 3 andillustrates a slight modification of at least the two intermediate wheelsupporting means 56 shown in the first form of the invention and whichcan become extremely hot from the hot flue gas passing upwardly andangularly through the annular space 42 in the first form of theinvention. In this modification, parts which are functionally orstructurally similar to or substantially equivalent to those of thecorresponding parts of the first form of the invention are designated bysimilar reference numerals, followed by the letter c, however.

In the FIG. 12 modification, it will be noted that each of the wheelspokes 5&- is exteriorly insulated with a thermalinsulating materialsuch as is designated by the reference numeral 147 and which reduces therate of heat transfer from hot flue gases passing through the space 42cand into the metal of the spokes 58c to a degree such that the heat canbe conducted along the spokes 58c either an equal or greater rate thanthe heat transfer through the insulation 147 into the spokes 580. Thisof course allows heat to be conducted to the outer rim 640 of the wheel560 or to the wall 46c of the inner ore-flow tube means 36c at a ratesuch that excessive localized heating of the metal of the spokes 58cdoes not occur. This is an alternate to the arrangement best illustratedin FIG. 4 and previously described in detail for minimizing excessivelocalized heating of the wheel spokes 58 of the first form of theinvention. Otherwise, this modification of the invention issubstantially the same as the first form of the invention, and nofurther detailed description thereof is thought necessary or desirablesince it would obviously be redundant.

FIG. 13 illustrates fragmentary a very slight modification of thehelical tube 121 of each of the three vapor and ore separating andisolating means 118 of the first form of the invention, it of coursebeing understood that a representative one of the three such helicallyshaped tubes is shown in FIG. I3 where it is designated by the referencenumeral 121d. However, it should be clearly understood that the samemodification may be provided on the other two such vapor and oreseparating and isolating means substantially equivalent to the onegenerally designated at 118d. In this view, all portions which arefunctionally or structurally similar to or substantially equivalent tocorresponding parts of the first form of the invention are designated bysimilar reference numerals, followed by the letter d, however.

In the FIG. 13 modification of the helical tube IZId, it should be notedthat the only modification is at the outlet opening 125d thereof whichis provided with an ore-flow regulating gate means 148 which may be ofany desired type although it is shown for exemplary purposes only asbeing of the type generally similar to that shown in FIG. 7 anddesignated therein by the reference numeral 110, and it is of similarconstruction and operates in a similar manner. However, it should benoted that a great many different types of flow restricting orregulating means at or adjacent to the outlet opening 125d may beemployed in lieu of the specific, exemplary restricting orflow-regulating gate means generally designated by the reference numeral148. The purpose of this type of flow restriction at or adjacent to theoutlet opening 125d is to cause the interior of the helical tube ll2ldto be substantially filled with ore Md during operation of the apparatusso that it will act as a substantial inhibitor or the the passagethrough the tube 121111 of vapor from one ore and vapor chamber to thenext ore and vapor chamber on opposite sides of each of the three vaporand ore separating and isolating means such as the representativeexemplary one illustrated in H6. 113 and generally designated by thereference numeral lllhd.

It should be understood that the FIGS. and the specific descriptionthereof set forth in this application are for the purpose ofillustrating the present invention and are not to be construed aslimiting the present invention to the precise and detailed specificstructure shown in the FIGS. and specifically described hereinbefore.Rather, the real invention is intended to include substantiallyequivalent constructions embodying the basic teachings and inventiveconcept of the present invention.

lclaim:

ll. Mercury-extraction apparatus for treating mercurycontaining ore,comprising: heating furnace means provided with hollow firebox meanshaving an interior main furnace heating chamber therein and heatingmeans in heat transfer relationship with respect to said interiorfurnace heating chamber, said interior furnace heating chamber of saidfurnace means being provided with an effectively laterally upwardlyangularly inclined extended ore-treatment portion having a remote endpart spaced from said firebox means and provided with an upwardlydirected exhaust flue for venting exhaust flue gases to ambientatmosphere; longitudinal substantially cylindrical hollow ore-flow tubemeans of a material of high thermal conductivity substantiallyconcentrically mounted within; and along a longitudinal axis of, saidextended ore-treatment portion of said furnace means and being ofsmaller exterior cross-sectional diameter than the interiorcross-sectional diameter of said extended ore-treatment portion todefine therebetween an annular longitudinal hot furnace flue gas passageextending from said interior heating chamber within said firebox meansof said furnace means to said exhaust flue and being in effective heattransfer relationship with respect to said inner substantiallyconcentrically positioned ore-flow tube means for effectively heatingore adapted to flow downwardly angularly therethrough in a substantiallyhelical manner during rotation of said ore-flow tube means; mountingmeans for rotatably mounting said ore-flow tube means in saidsubstantially concentric relationship within said extended ore-treatmentportion for rotation around a common longitudinal axis thereof; drivingmeans in driving relationship with respect to said ore-flow tube meansfor rotating same around said longitudinal axis thereof; said ore-flowtube means being provided with a plurality of vapor and ore separatingand isolating means positioned within said ore-flow tube means atlongitudinally spaced locations along the length thereof and effectivelyseparating the hollow interior of said ore-flow tube means into aplurality of hollow interior longitudinally adjacent ore and vaporchambers, said vapor and ore separating and isolating means beingcapable of readily transmitting ore therethrough from one interior oreand vapor chamber to the next downwardly adjacent ore and vapor chamberbut being effective to greatly inhibit andsubstantially prevent the flowof vapor from one interior ore and vapor chamber to the next adjacentore and vapor chamber; material pumping and moving means in effectiveinterior communication with the interior of at least one of said ore andvapor chambers and passing through at least one of said plurality ofvapor and ore separating and isolating means to a position exterior ofthe end of said ore-flow tube means for extracting vapor from saidchambers.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim I, wherein said material pumping andmoving means comprises mercury vaporextraction means in effectiveinterior, substantially concentric communication with the interior ofselected ones of said ore and vapor chambers and passing throughcorresponding ones of said plurality of vapor and ore separating andisolating means to a position substantially axially exterior of the endof said ore-flow tube means.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein said ore-flow tube means hasa lower discharge end portion extending laterally and slightly angularlydownwardly in sealed relationship through said interior furnace-heatingchamber of said firebox means of said furnace means to a positionexterior thereof and is there provided with a terminal discharge endhaving a discharge opening means for discharging treated ore, saidore-flow tube means having an upper inflow end portion extending beyonda remote upper end of said extended oretreatment portion into a positionexterior thereof and there being provided with inflow means adapted toreceive a controlled flow thereinto of particulate mercury-containingore from suitable ore supply and feeding means.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said ore-flow tube meanscomprises a plurality of longitudinal ore-flow tube means portions intelescopically overlapped end-to-end interiorly communicating engagementin a telescopically relatively extendable and retractable manner toallow for thermal expansion of adjacent ore-flow tubemeans portionsengagement end parts while maintaining positive communication andstructural interengagement therebetween.

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said ore-flow tube meanscomprises a plurality of longitudinal ore-flow tube means portions intelescopically overlapped and effectively relatively nonrotativelycoupled end-to-end interiorly communicating engagement in atelescopically relatively extendable and retractable manner to allow forthermal expansion of adjacent ore-flow tube means portions engagementend parts while maintaining positive communication and structuralinterengagement therebetween and relative axial rotative immobilizationof engaged adjacent ore-flow tube end portions with respect to eachother.

6. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said mounting meanscomprises a plurality of circumferentially enlarged stress-transferringwheel means effectively concentrically rigidly connected to andsupporting said longitudinal ore-flow tube means at spaced locationsalong the length thereof by a plurality of longitudinally effectivelyapertured and perforate wheel spoke means to effectively cause saidlongitudinal oreflow tube means to effectively comprise a common hub forall of said plurality of wheel means, said mounting means also includinga plurality of upstanding structural support members provided at the topwith roller means rollably receiving and supporting correspondingportions of corresponding ones of said plurality of wheel means, atleast a pair of said wheel means being positioned between opposite endsof said extended ore-treatment portion, with said extended ore-treatmentportion being provided with an annular recess at the location of saidwheel means and receiving said wheel means therein and being longer thanthe received portion of said wheel means for defining an expansion jointspace means between opposite sides of said wheel means and adjacentparts of said extended ore-treatment portion on each side of saidannular recess to allow for thermal expansion of corresponding ore-flowtube means portions carrying said wheel means exteriorly attachedthereto and also providing for exterior rollably supporting contact ofthe corresponding one of said roller means with the exterior of saidintermediate wheel means; and longitudinally extendable and retractableheat-resistant seal means effectively extending across open portions ofeach such annular recess between adjacent extended ore-treatmentportions and the corresponding wheel means for effectively sealing andpreventing the escape of hot furnace flue gases from said interior hotfurnace flue gas passage.

7. Apparatus as defined in claim 6, wherein a lowermost one of saidroller means is effectively provided with thrust receiving and resistingflange means and effective thrust bearing means for receiving andreacting to the thrust thereagainst provided by the downward angularinclination of said longitudinal ore-flow tube means for effectivelysupporting same against angular downward longitudinal movement thereofalong the longitudinal axis thereof.

8. Apparatus as defined in claim 6, wherein at least certain of saidspoke means in high-temperature portions of said annular flue gaspassages are interiorly hollow and are at least partially filled with aheat-conductive means therein having a melting point lower than thetemperature to which said spoke means are adapted to be subjected byflue gases passing therearound, thus providing for effectiveliquefication of said heat-conductive means for preventing localizedheating of said spoke means and the consequent raising of thetemperature thereof beyond permissible limits.

9. Apparatus as defined in claim 3, wherein said heating means isadapted to heat said interior chamber of said firebox means to atemperature sufficiently high to transfer an adequate amount of heat tothe interior of lower disassociation portion of said ore-flow tube meanspositioned partially therewithin and partially in the immediatelyadjacent upstream ore and vapor chamber portion of said ore-flow tubemeans to cause disassociation of mercury-containing ore adapted to flowtherethrough into mercury and sulfur and to efiectively vaporize thedisassociated mercury; said mercury vapor extraction means comprising atlest one mercury vapor extractor tube having suction pump means at oneend thereof positioned exterior of said ore-flow tube means and havingat least one insertion end thereof extended through said substantiallyclosed lower discharge end of said ore-flow tube means and one of saidvapor and ore separating and isolating means positioned at said locationinto the interior of said oreflow tube means and along the lengththereof through at least one additional one of said vapor and oreseparating and isolating means into the corresponding ore and vaporchamber means and there being provided with open suction end means forcorresponding aspiration of mercury vapor thereinto, said mercury vaporextraction means being provided with condenser means exterior of thelower end of said ore-flow tube means for condensing extracted mercuryvapor into liquid mercury and having a discharge end for condensedliquefied mercury.

10. Apparatus as defined in claim 9, wherein said condenser meanscomprises an effective heat exchanger taking the form of a coiled lengthof tubing in communication with said mercury vapor extractor tube andmeans for effectively applying a coolant medium in heat transferrelationship with the exterior thereof.

11. Apparatus as defined in claim 3, including means for providingcontrolled flow of particulate mercury-containing ore into said inflowmeans at said upper inflow end of said oreflow tube means comprisingregulating gate means adjustably positioned for providing a variabledepth downwardly angularly inclinedly directed effective flow opening ingravityfeeding relationship to said upper inflow means of said oreflowtube means and a supply of particulate mercurycontaining ore fromsuitable ore supply and feeding means.

12. Apparatus as defined in claim 11, wherein said regulating gate meansis provided with downwardly angularly inclined spout means mounting saidregulating gate means in an adjustably positioned manner for providingsaid variable depth downwardly angularly inclinedly directed effectiveflow opening at the bottom of said spout in said gravity-feedingrelationship relative to said upper inflow means of said oreflow tubemeans.

13. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, including air-inflow means ininterior communication with said ore-flow tube means for providingsufficient inflow of air thereinto at said lower ore and vapor chambermeans portion of said ore-flow tube means for substantially completelyoxidizing disassociated sulfur originally contained in mercury ore priorto heat-caused disassociation of such sulfur rom such mercury ore.

14. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, including ore supply and feedingmeans comprising bin and hopper means adapted to be supplied through atop opening thereinto with a quantity of mercury-containing ore incrushed particulate form of a desired average or maximum particle size.

15. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said firebox means of saidfurnace means and said extended ore-treatment portion of said furnacemeans are provided with effective interior thermal insulation comprisingrefractory firebrick means.

16. Apparatus as defined in claim 4, wherein said telescopicallyoverlapped end-to-end interiorly communicating engagement of each pairof adjacent ends of said longitudinal ore-flow tube means portions is ofa type adapted to allow effective pivotal movement to a limited extentin a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of said ore-flow tubemeans while maintaining said positive communication and structuralinterengagement therebetween.

17. Apparatus as defined in claim 5, wherein said telescopicallyoverlapped and effectively relatively nonrotatively keyed or splinedend-to-end interiorly communicating engagement of each pair of adjacentends of said longitudinal ore-flow tube means portion is of a typeadapted to allow effective pivotal movement to a limited extent in adirection transverse to the longitudinal axis of said ore-flow tubemeans while maintaining said positive communication and structuralinterengagement therebetween and said relative axial rotativeimmobilization of engaged adjacent ore-flow tube end portions withrespect to each other.

1. Mercury-extraction apparatus for treating mercury-containing ore,comprising: heating furnace means provided with hollow firebox meanshaving an interior main furnace heating chamber therein and heatingmeans in heat transfer relationship with respect to said interiorfurnace heating chamber, said interior furnace heating chamber of saidfurnace means being provided with an effectively laterally upwardlyangularly inclined extended ore-treatment portion having a remote endpart spaced from said firebox means and provided with an upwardlydirected exhaust flue for venting exhaust flue gases to ambientatmosphere; longitudinal substantially cylindrical hollow ore-flow tubemeans of a material of high thermal conductivity substantiallyconcentrically mounted within, and along a longitudinal axis of, saidextended ore-treatment portion of said furnace means and being ofsmaller exterior cross-sectional diameter than the interiorcross-sectional diameter of said extended ore-treatment portion todefine therebetween an annular longitudinal hot furnace flue gas passageextending from said interior heating chamber within said firebox meansof said furnace means to said exhaust flue and being in effective heattransfer relationship with respect to said inner substantiallyconcentrically positioned ore-flow tube means for effectively heatingore adapted to flow downwardly angularly therethrough in a substantiallyhelical manner during rotation of said ore-flow tube means; mountingmeans for rotatably mounting said ore-flow tube means in saidsubstantially concentric relationship within said extended ore-treatmentportion for rotation around a common longitudinal axis thereof; drivingmeans in driving relationship with respect to said ore-flow tube meansfor rotating same around said longitudinal axis thereof; said ore-flowtube means being provided with a plurality of vapor and ore separatingand isolating means positioned within said ore-flow tube means atlongitudinally spaced locations along the length thereof and effectivelyseparating the hollow interior of said ore-flow tube means into aplurality of hollow interior longitudinally adjacent ore and vaporchambers, said vapor and ore separating and isolating means beingcapable of readily transmitting ore therethrough from one interior oreand vapor chamber to the next downwardly adjacent ore and vapor chamberbut being effective to greatly inhibit and substantially prevent theflow of vapor from one interior ore and vapor chamber to the nextadjacent ore and vapor chamber; material pumping and moving means ineffective interior communication with the interior of at least one ofsaid ore and vapor chambers and passing through at least one of saidplurality of vapor and ore separating and isolating means to a positionexterior of the end of said ore-flow tube means for extracting vaporfrom said chambers.
 2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein saidmaterial pumping and moving means comprises mercury vapor-extractionmeans in effective interior, substantially conCentric communication withthe interior of selected ones of said ore and vapor chambers and passingthrough corresponding ones of said plurality of vapor and ore separatingand isolating means to a position substantially axially exterior of theend of said ore-flow tube means.
 3. Apparatus as defined in claim 2,wherein said ore-flow tube means has a lower discharge end portionextending laterally and slightly angularly downwardly in sealedrelationship through said interior furnace heating chamber of saidfirebox means of said furnace means to a position exterior thereof andis there provided with a terminal discharge end having a dischargeopening means for discharging treated ore, said ore-flow tube meanshaving an upper inflow end portion extending beyond a remote upper endof said extended ore-treatment portion into a position exterior thereofand there being provided with inflow means adapted to receive acontrolled flow thereinto of particulate mercury-containing ore fromsuitable ore supply and feeding means.
 4. Apparatus as defined in claim1, wherein said ore-flow tube means comprises a plurality oflongitudinal ore-flow tube means portions in telescopically overlappedend-to-end interiorly communicating engagement in a telescopicallyrelatively extendable and retractable manner to allow for thermalexpansion of adjacent ore-flow tube means portions engagement end partswhile maintaining positive communication and structural interengagementtherebetween.
 5. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said ore-flowtube means comprises a plurality of longitudinal ore-flow tube meansportions in telescopically overlapped and effectively relativelynonrotatively coupled end-to-end interiorly communicating engagement ina telescopically relatively extendable and retractable manner to allowfor thermal expansion of adjacent ore-flow tube means portionsengagement end parts while maintaining positive communication andstructural interengagement therebetween and relative axial rotativeimmobilization of engaged adjacent ore-flow tube end portions withrespect to each other.
 6. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein saidmounting means comprises a plurality of circumferentially enlargedstress-transferring wheel means effectively concentrically rigidlyconnected to and supporting said longitudinal ore-flow tube means atspaced locations along the length thereof by a plurality oflongitudinally effectively apertured and perforate wheel spoke means toeffectively cause said longitudinal ore-flow tube means to effectivelycomprise a common hub for all of said plurality of wheel means, saidmounting means also including a plurality of upstanding structuralsupport members provided at the top with roller means rollably receivingand supporting corresponding portions of corresponding ones of saidplurality of wheel means, at least a pair of said wheel means beingpositioned between opposite ends of said extended ore-treatment portion,with said extended ore-treatment portion being provided with an annularrecess at the location of said wheel means and receiving said wheelmeans therein and being longer than the received portion of said wheelmeans for defining an expansion joint space means between opposite sidesof said wheel means and adjacent parts of said extended ore-treatmentportion on each side of said annular recess to allow for thermalexpansion of corresponding ore-flow tube means portions carrying saidwheel means exteriorly attached thereto and also providing for exteriorrollably supporting contact of the corresponding one of said rollermeans with the exterior of said intermediate wheel means; andlongitudinally extendable and retractable heat-resistant seal meanseffectively extending across open portions of each such annular recessbetween adjacent extended ore-treatment portions and the correspondingwheel means for effectively sealing and preventing the escape of hotfurnace flue gases from said interior hot furnace flue gas passage. 7.Apparatus as defined in claim 6, wherein a lowermost one of said rollermeans is effectively provided with thrust receiving and resisting flangemeans and effective thrust bearing means for receiving and reacting tothe thrust thereagainst provided by the downward angular inclination ofsaid longitudinal ore-flow tube means for effectively supporting sameagainst angular downward longitudinal movement thereof along thelongitudinal axis thereof.
 8. Apparatus as defined in claim 6, whereinat least certain of said spoke means in high-temperature portions ofsaid annular flue gas passages are interiorly hollow and are at leastpartially filled with a heat-conductive means therein having a meltingpoint lower than the temperature to which said spoke means are adaptedto be subjected by flue gases passing therearound, thus providing foreffective liquefication of said heat-conductive means for preventinglocalized heating of said spoke means and the consequent raising of thetemperature thereof beyond permissible limits.
 9. Apparatus as definedin claim 3, wherein said heating means is adapted to heat said interiorchamber of said firebox means to a temperature sufficiently high totransfer an adequate amount of heat to the interior of lowerdisassociation portion of said ore-flow tube means positioned partiallytherewithin and partially in the immediately adjacent upstream ore andvapor chamber portion of said ore-flow tube means to causedisassociation of mercury-containing ore adapted to flow therethroughinto mercury and sulfur and to effectively vaporize the disassociatedmercury; said mercury vapor extraction means comprising at lest onemercury vapor extractor tube having suction pump means at one endthereof positioned exterior of said ore-flow tube means and having atleast one insertion end thereof extended through said substantiallyclosed lower discharge end of said ore-flow tube means and one of saidvapor and ore separating and isolating means positioned at said locationinto the interior of said ore-flow tube means and along the lengththereof through at least one additional one of said vapor and oreseparating and isolating means into the corresponding ore and vaporchamber means and there being provided with open suction end means forcorresponding aspiration of mercury vapor thereinto, said mercury vaporextraction means being provided with condenser means exterior of thelower end of said ore-flow tube means for condensing extracted mercuryvapor into liquid mercury and having a discharge end for condensedliquefied mercury.
 10. Apparatus as defined in claim 9, wherein saidcondenser means comprises an effective heat exchanger taking the form ofa coiled length of tubing in communication with said mercury vaporextractor tube and means for effectively applying a coolant medium inheat transfer relationship with the exterior thereof.
 11. Apparatus asdefined in claim 3, including means for providing controlled flow ofparticulate mercury-containing ore into said inflow means at said upperinflow end of said ore-flow tube means comprising regulating gate meansadjustably positioned for providing a variable depth downwardlyangularly inclinedly directed effective flow opening in gravity-feedingrelationship to said upper inflow means of said ore-flow tube means anda supply of particulate mercury-containing ore from suitable ore supplyand feeding means.
 12. Apparatus as defined in claim 11, wherein saidregulating gate means is provided with downwardly angularly inclinedspout means mounting said regulating gate means in an adjustablypositioned manner for providing said variable depth downwardly angularlyinclinedly directed effective flow opening at the bottom of said spoutin said gravity-feeding relationship relative to said upper inflow meansof said ore-flow tube means.
 13. Apparatus as defined in claim 1,including air-inflow means in interior communication with said ore-flowtube means for providing sufficient inflow of air thereinto at saidlowEr ore and vapor chamber means portion of said ore-flow tube meansfor substantially completely oxidizing disassociated sulfur originallycontained in mercury ore prior to heat-caused disassociation of suchsulfur from such mercury ore.
 14. Apparatus as defined in claim 1,including ore supply and feeding means comprising bin and hopper meansadapted to be supplied through a top opening thereinto with a quantityof mercury-containing ore in crushed particulate form of a desiredaverage or maximum particle size.
 15. Apparatus as defined in claim 1,wherein said firebox means of said furnace means and said extendedore-treatment portion of said furnace means are provided with effectiveinterior thermal insulation comprising refractory firebrick means. 16.Apparatus as defined in claim 4, wherein said telescopically overlappedend-to-end interiorly communicating engagement of each pair of adjacentends of said longitudinal ore-flow tube means portions is of a typeadapted to allow effective pivotal movement to a limited extent in adirection transverse to the longitudinal axis of said ore-flow tubemeans while maintaining said positive communication and structuralinterengagement therebetween.
 17. Apparatus as defined in claim 5,wherein said telescopically overlapped and effectively relativelynonrotatively keyed or splined end-to-end interiorly communicatingengagement of each pair of adjacent ends of said longitudinal ore-flowtube means portion is of a type adapted to allow effective pivotalmovement to a limited extent in a direction transverse to thelongitudinal axis of said ore-flow tube means while maintaining saidpositive communication and structural interengagement therebetween andsaid relative axial rotative immobilization of engaged adjacent ore-flowtube end portions with respect to each other.